Desktop Support Contract Job Trends

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £175, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 16 February 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 374 325 298
Rank change year-on-year -49 -27 +27
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 243 208 330
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.61% 0.68% 0.74%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.67% 0.73% 0.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 173 131 237
10th Percentile £153 £150 £129
25th Percentile £156 £175 £143
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £200 £203
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% -1.23% +1.25%
75th Percentile £230 £238 £224
90th Percentile £275 £269 £282
UK excluding London median daily rate £175 £205 £200
% change year-on-year -14.63% +2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 17 20
10th Percentile £16.32 £17.55 £18.95
25th Percentile £19.54 £22.50 £20.00
Median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £25.28
Median % change year-on-year -16.54% -4.36% +34.84%
75th Percentile £22.03 £27.25 £30.25
90th Percentile £31.40 £30.68 £33.35
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £24.25
% change year-on-year -16.54% -0.29% +38.57%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 36,541 28,512 41,697
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.61% 92.94% 93.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,964 17,617 27,442
10th Percentile £304 £288 £275
25th Percentile £406 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £614 £638 £638
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £478 £475 £489
% change year-on-year +0.53% -2.86% -2.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,238 809 2,311
10th Percentile £14.61 £16.20 £13.13
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.46 £16.30
Median hourly rate £30.00 £33.54 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -10.55% -4.17% -5.74%
75th Percentile £61.55 £63.75 £60.75
90th Percentile £72.51 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.60 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -8.92% -7.14% -

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Desktop Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Desktop Support job vacancy trend in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 16 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 16 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the UK over the 6 months to 16 February 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -23 229 £195 -6.02% 27
UK excluding London -29 190 £175 -14.63% 27
London -49 51 £201 +0.25% 6
Midlands -25 43 £175 -14.63% 3
North of England -44 42 £175 -18.60% 6
South West -11 36 £225 - 4
East of England +4 35 £195 -7.14% 3
East Midlands +3 29 £175 -17.65% 2
South East -48 24 £172 -12.05% 9
North West -19 21 £175 -19.54% 4
Work from Home -13 15 £163 -46.28% 7
West Midlands -44 14 £175 -12.50% 1
North East -6 11 £175 -2.78% 1
Wales +6 10 £160 -
Yorkshire -57 10 £200 -10.11% 2
Scotland -5 3 £132 -12.33% 3
Northern Ireland -8 1 £150 - 1

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 16 February 2026, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 147 (60.49%) Windows
2 111 (45.68%) Microsoft 365
3 98 (40.33%) Microsoft
4 91 (37.45%) Active Directory
5 89 (36.63%) Customer Service
6 86 (35.39%) Windows 10
7 79 (32.51%) Security Cleared
8 78 (32.10%) SC Cleared
9 57 (23.46%) Microsoft Office
10 47 (19.34%) Azure
11 43 (17.70%) ITIL
12 42 (17.28%) Mac OS
13 41 (16.87%) Android
14 39 (16.05%) Microsoft Intune
15 36 (14.81%) Cisco
16 35 (14.40%) SLA
17 34 (13.99%) Wireless
18 33 (13.58%) Business Intelligence
18 33 (13.58%) Digital Marketing
18 33 (13.58%) HP
18 33 (13.58%) Programme Management
18 33 (13.58%) SAP
18 33 (13.58%) Service Management
19 32 (13.17%) SCCM
20 30 (12.35%) Apple
20 30 (12.35%) Dell
20 30 (12.35%) Microsoft Exchange
20 30 (12.35%) SharePoint
21 29 (11.93%) Migration
22 27 (11.11%) Problem-Solving

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 30 (12.35%) Microsoft Exchange
1 30 (12.35%) SharePoint
Applications
1 57 (23.46%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (6.17%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (6.17%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (0.41%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.82%) assyst
2 1 (0.41%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 111 (45.68%) Microsoft 365
2 47 (19.34%) Azure
3 18 (7.41%) OneDrive
4 11 (4.53%) Entra ID
5 4 (1.65%) Google Ads
6 3 (1.23%) Google Workspace
6 3 (1.23%) Slack
7 1 (0.41%) Google Drive
Communications & Networking
1 34 (13.99%) Wireless
2 23 (9.47%) VPN
3 13 (5.35%) PABX
4 12 (4.94%) DNS
5 10 (4.12%) DHCP
6 9 (3.70%) TCP/IP
7 8 (3.29%) Cisco IOS
7 8 (3.29%) Skype
8 5 (2.06%) Structured Cabling
9 3 (1.23%) LAN
9 3 (1.23%) Softphone
9 3 (1.23%) Wi-Fi
10 2 (0.82%) Firewall
10 2 (0.82%) Telepresence
10 2 (0.82%) Unified Communications
10 2 (0.82%) VLAN
10 2 (0.82%) WAN
11 1 (0.41%) IPv4
11 1 (0.41%) Network Security
11 1 (0.41%) VoIP
Development Applications
1 3 (1.23%) JIRA
General
1 106 (43.62%) Social Skills
2 60 (24.69%) Finance
3 40 (16.46%) Public Sector
4 36 (14.81%) Telecoms
5 33 (13.58%) Electronics
5 33 (13.58%) Manufacturing
5 33 (13.58%) Marketing
6 27 (11.11%) Analytical Skills
7 9 (3.70%) Retail
8 7 (2.88%) Aerospace
8 7 (2.88%) Banking
9 6 (2.47%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (2.47%) Law
10 4 (1.65%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (1.23%) Pharmaceutical
12 2 (0.82%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.82%) Legal
13 1 (0.41%) Financial Institution
13 1 (0.41%) Front Office
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.41%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 31 (12.76%) Self-Motivation
2 29 (11.93%) Smartphone
3 25 (10.29%) Data Centre
4 12 (4.94%) Onboarding
5 10 (4.12%) Mobile App
6 8 (3.29%) Hybrid Cloud
6 8 (3.29%) Management Information System
7 7 (2.88%) iPad
7 7 (2.88%) iPhone
8 6 (2.47%) Video Conferencing
9 5 (2.06%) Virtual Team
10 4 (1.65%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (1.23%) Hedge funds
12 2 (0.82%) Driving Licence
12 2 (0.82%) Tandem
13 1 (0.41%) Augmented Reality
13 1 (0.41%) BYOD
13 1 (0.41%) Data Protection Act
13 1 (0.41%) Fat Client
13 1 (0.41%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 147 (60.49%) Windows
2 86 (35.39%) Windows 10
3 42 (17.28%) Mac OS
4 41 (16.87%) Android
5 21 (8.64%) Apple iOS
6 13 (5.35%) Windows Server
7 6 (2.47%) Windows 7
8 4 (1.65%) Windows 8
9 2 (0.82%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.41%) Linux
10 1 (0.41%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 89 (36.63%) Customer Service
2 43 (17.70%) ITIL
3 33 (13.58%) Business Intelligence
3 33 (13.58%) Digital Marketing
3 33 (13.58%) Programme Management
3 33 (13.58%) Service Management
4 29 (11.93%) Migration
5 27 (11.11%) Problem-Solving
6 26 (10.70%) Service Delivery
7 22 (9.05%) Time Management
8 21 (8.64%) Inventory Management
8 21 (8.64%) ITSM
9 19 (7.82%) Continuous Improvement
10 17 (7.00%) Workflow
11 15 (6.17%) Logistics
12 14 (5.76%) Incident Management
12 14 (5.76%) Mobile Device Management
13 13 (5.35%) Patch Management
14 12 (4.94%) Asset Management
15 10 (4.12%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 20 (8.23%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.41%) Python
Qualifications
1 79 (32.51%) Security Cleared
2 78 (32.10%) SC Cleared
3 15 (6.17%) Degree
3 15 (6.17%) ITIL Certification
4 6 (2.47%) A+ Certification
5 3 (1.23%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 2 (0.82%) Computer Science Degree
6 2 (0.82%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (14.40%) SLA
2 7 (2.88%) GDPR
3 2 (0.82%) QA
System Software
1 91 (37.45%) Active Directory
2 13 (5.35%) Virtual Desktop
3 3 (1.23%) Firmware
4 1 (0.41%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.41%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.41%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 39 (16.05%) Microsoft Intune
2 32 (13.17%) SCCM
3 2 (0.82%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 98 (40.33%) Microsoft
2 36 (14.81%) Cisco
3 33 (13.58%) HP
3 33 (13.58%) SAP
4 30 (12.35%) Apple
4 30 (12.35%) Dell
5 26 (10.70%) ServiceNow
6 9 (3.70%) McAfee
7 7 (2.88%) Starlink
8 5 (2.06%) Remedy
9 4 (1.65%) Google
10 3 (1.23%) Bloomberg
11 1 (0.41%) Altiris
11 1 (0.41%) Barracuda Networks
11 1 (0.41%) Citrix
11 1 (0.41%) CrowdStrike
11 1 (0.41%) Salesforce
11 1 (0.41%) SolarWinds
11 1 (0.41%) Veeam
11 1 (0.41%) VMware